Jencyclopedia

Genie Francis wants to meet her dad so he can give her away at her wedding; she finds out her mom was a trollop.
A man wants to make an important archaeological discovery; he gets brainwashed by some demons.

I watched this entire episode when it was on TV last year, since it played on Thanksgiving Monday, so I was off work that day. My brother also watched some of it, and I think he enjoyed it, since “The Whistle” was pretty hokey.

I was getting a “not of the body” vibe from those townsfolk at the beginning.

Roarke: When the time is propitious, she will know him, my dear Julie.

Roarke sometimes throws these obscure words into his opening spiel, and I feel like I should have been tracking these. Also, I feel like Roarke has been dropping a lot more “my dear”s as the series has progressed, and maybe I should have been tracking that too.

The subtitles said “I am Mr. Rourke, your host”, and I was unreasonably annoyed.

Krista Ackland: Please, can’t you see how important it is for me to have my real father give me away?
Julie: What about the father that raised you?

Shyeah! You deserve to have Mr. Roarke play a trick on you, jerk.

[Roarke walks into the tiki restaurant with Krista.]
Roarke: Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please? May I have your attention? Thank you very much. Uh, first of all, please, forgive me for interrupting your festivities, but uh, this young lady has an announcement to make that I think you will find interesting.
[Roarke leaves.]

WTF Roarke. What’s she supposed say? “Hi. Somebody here is my father, but I don’t know who. Will my real father please stand up?”

Roarke: Perhaps you should have taken that into consideration before you began your fantasy.

Roarke should say this to guests way more often.

Old Man: Your blood is eternally hot, my dear.

Creepy.

Roarke gave Adrian the whistle and told him exactly where the tablet was that would help him decipher the hieroglyphics. Adrian deciphered it, but Roarke already knew what it said. That’s a ripoff! Adrian wanted to make a discovery; you can’t discover something if Roarke has already discovered it.

Ooh, the calendar on Roarke’s desk is open to the 30th, and this episode aired on January 30. I am, once again (as with 4×6 “Jack the Ripper”), impressed.

Ugh, that’s terrible.

Leila Proctor: They came to witness your triumph, darling.

I feel like you shouldn’t be calling anyone “darling” if you’ve known them for less than a day.

The three guys who claimed to be (but weren’t actually) Krista’s father came over to her just as she was about to walk down the aisle at her wedding, like they were going to walk her down the aisle… when the man who raised her was also there. The man who raised her did walk her down the aisle, but they made it look like the other three were going to, and that annoyed me. Poor Bill.

When I saw this episode last year, when Leila was trying to convince Adrian to blow the whistle, and there were all these quick cuts and red lights and superimposed shots, my brother was like “this is like MST3k” and I was like exactly.

Adrian Briles: This is my third.. wish… that my first.. two.. wishes… never come true.

His first wish was to ~restore the townsfolk to what they were~, which he thought would make them young, but it actually made them demons, I think. His second wish was for him to be a success. Sooo why couldn’t he just wish that his first wish never come true? And also, I don’t see exactly how that wish freed Leila from the demons, but okay.

Genie Francis’ Fantasy Island wedding went way better than Jonathan Frakes’ wedding (2×6 “Queen of the Boston Bruisers”).

Genie Francis was only 19 in this, which is the youngest main character we’ve had this season; until now, I thought maybe they had a rule not to cast anyone under 21, because, like, the drinking age or something. Anyway, I feel like someone in her story should have pointed out that maybe she shouldn’t be getting married at 19.

So then I started looking at her IMDb, because I couldn’t remember if North & South was before or after this episode (it was 3 years after), and then I wondered when she met her husband, Jonathan Frakes, and it was not, in fact, during North & South, but it was in a short-lived soap opera called Bare Essence, which also featured one of the actresses who played Frakes’ wife in N&S. I watched the opening credits for Bare Essence, and there is an awfully familiar looking building at 1:10:

This same shot appeared in 5×6 “A Night in a Harem” as the Contessa’s mansion, but I’m fairly sure it’s also appeared in quite a few other Fantasy Island episodes.

• Julie’s outfit: pants
• Where’s Tattoo?
  • Julie: Where’s Tattoo?
    Roarke: Well, it seems that one of our guests, a CPR instructor, has asked Tattoo’s assistance in setting up a class.
    Julie: Oh.
    Roarke: Yes. There’s the instructor now.
    [A pretty woman walks by.]
    Julie: I’ll bet she’s big on mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
    Roarke: Julie!
• Drivers:
  • To the dock: Wally
  • Krista Ackland’s departure: That Guy
  • Adrian Briles’ departure: Wally
• Guests:
  • Mr. Adrian Briles, a college professor of archaeology
  • Miss Krista Ackland
• Ominous Roarke:
  • Roarke: Mr. Briles’ fantasy is to make some discovery that will assure him worldwide recognition and fame in his profession at any cost… even though it may mean… facing a terror he has never known before…
  • Roarke: When the time is propitious, she will know him, my dear Julie. Oh yes… she will know him…
• Roarke’s drink: same old
• Ominous shot of Roarke drinking: slightly ominous
• Magic object:
  • Roarke: I believe this uh, ancient stone whistle will interest you, Mr. Briles. It is said the whistle has great powers, possibly even evil powers.
• Recurring phrases:
  • Roarke: However, I warn you once more, the path you must follow is… terrifying, beyond your conception.
• Neighbouring islands:
  • Roarke: If you wish to continue, your fantasy will take place on an island not far from here, where legend has it that time has seemingly stopped.
• ‘Cause I gotta have faith:
  • Roarke: Have faith. If he is here, he’ll find a way of making himself known.
• Locations: Fantasy Island Restaurant
•  Cancelling the fantasy:
  • Roarke: Well, you did find the tablet, and you did decipher its meaning.
    Adrian Briles: You’re right. I did.
    Roarke: Then is that enough, Mr. Briles? Do you wish to terminate your fantasy and return with me now?
• Leaving with an extra guest:
  • Krista Ackland with new husband George Stickney and her three dads
  • Adrian Briles with new girlfriend Leila Proctor
• Age gap:
  • Carolyn Jones: 51 / William Windom: 58 = 7 years
  • Genie Francis: 19 / James Daughton: 31 = 12 years
  • Ann Turkel: 35 / Edward Winter: 44 = 9 years